Activity

• Christian Aid Ireland is the Irish affiliate of Christian Aid, an “international aid and development agency of the Protestant Churches of Great Britain and Ireland.”
  • Christian Aid UK assumes a highly biased and politicized approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Its publications systematically ignore Palestinian responsibility in the conflict and minimize Israel’s right to self-defense. For issues relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Christian Aid Ireland’s website directs people to the resources and articles featured on Christian Aid UK’s website.

See NGO Monitor’s report on Christian Aid UK.

Funding

• In FY 2020-2021, total income was €9.7 million; total expenses were €8.9 million, of which €671,000 was spent on “Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.”
• Donors include Ireland (Irish Aid) and the European Union.

Governmental and Institutional Funding to Christian Aid (amounts in €)

Political Advocacy

• Christian Aid Ireland funds highly politicized and biased NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict including Al-Haq, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), B’Tselem, Adalah, Culture and Free Thought Association, and Zochrot. (See table below for further funding information.)
  • Both Al-Haq and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
    • On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared Al-Haq a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.” 
      • Al-Haq’s General Director Shawan Jabarin has been linked to the PFLP.
    • According to a 1995 article in the Washington Report, Raji Sourani served “a three-year sentence [1979-1982] imposed by an Israeli court which convicted him of membership in the illegal Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine…” He was also denied a US entry visa in 2012. For more information on PCHR’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
      • In February 2014, the PFLP organized a ceremony in Gaza honoring Sourani for winning the “Alternative Noble (sic) Prize.”
• Christian Aid Ireland encourages individuals to join the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).
  • EAPPI sends volunteers to the West Bank to “witness life under occupation.” Upon completion of the program, the volunteers return to their home countries and churches where many engage in anti-Israel advocacy, including advocating for BDS campaigns in churches, comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany, and other delegitimization strategies.
• Christian Aid Ireland is active in lobbying elected officials and assists people in becoming a “local lobbyist” to aid in “fighting against injustice.”
• In April 2021, Christian Aid Ireland called for Israel to “meet its legal responsibility to make sure vaccines reach Palestinains.” Christian Aid Ireland ignored that Palestinians residing in Jerusalem are part of the Israeli health care system; that under the Oslo Accords the PA is responsible for health care of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza; and that the PA has adopted its own vaccine policy for its population.
• In May 2018, during the violence on the Gaza border, Rosamond Bennett, the Chief Executive of Christian Aid Ireland, was a signatory on a Letter to the Editor to the Irish Times stating that the “shooting of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza is illegal, immoral and indicative of a complete disregard for the lives of Palestinians… The fate of the Palestinian people is a stain on the conscience of the world. This most recent massacre demands a response.” Bennet also called on the Irish Government to “recognise the state of Palestine.” Bennet ignored the violent nature of the protests, which have consisted of an organized armed attack on the Israeli border and IDF positions, attempts to destroy and breach the border fence, and sustained arson, rocket, and mortar attacks on Israeli civilian communities.
• Co-signed an August 2015 campaign, calling on world leaders “to press the Israeli government to lift the blockade on Gaza,” while altogether omitting that the blockade was implemented in an effort to stop Palestinian terrorists from smuggling of weapons and rockets into Gaza that would later be used to target Israeli civilians.

BDS Activities

• In February 2022, Christian Aid Ireland participated in a campaign titled “#StopTradeWithSettlements,” calling “for an EU law that will end trade with illegal settlements once and for all.”
• In 2018, Christian Aid Ireland supported the Irish “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied territories)” bill which would make it illegal for Irish citizens and residents to import or sell “settlement goods” or to provide or attempt to provide “settlement services.” According to Rosamond Bennett, Chief Executive of Christian Aid Ireland, the bill “sends an important message across the globe, that international law exists to protect people and their rights across the world. For too long, settlements and the produce that comes from them have been at the expense of Palestinian rights, forcing them off their land and into poverty.”
• In 2012, Christian Aid Ireland lobbied for the “introduction of a ban on the importation of produce originating in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.”
• In 2012, Christian Aid Ireland joined a coalition of 22 European NGOs in producing a report, “Trading Away Peace: How Europe Helps Sustain Illegal Israeli Settlements,” which repeats the BDS agenda and calls on the EU and national governments to wage political warfare through various forms of economic sanctions on Israel.